COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTIONJack McAuliffe was the first American "micro" brewer. His tiny New Albion Brewery in Sonoma, California inspired countless dreamers to start small-scale breweries of their own. Jack agreed to guest brew this very special ale with us in honor of our 30th anniversary. This Black Barleywine Ale is a nod to the legendary ales New Albion served at their legendary summer solstice parties. Rich with bittersweet and roasted malt flavors, balanced with whole-cone American hops, this robust ale should age gracefully for years.

Thanks to TimE for sharing the bottle at the tasting!
Poured into a taster showing light coffee with a finger of latte colored foam.
The nose shows a lot of caramelized black sugar.
The palate shows a lot of the same with a moderate carbonation and a strong caramelized black sugar forwardness. Very slight bitterness at the end from the hops.

Pours dark brown, bit of beige foam. Aroma is nicely full of roast, vinous even, bit boozy, hints of vanilla. Taste is more intense, some bitterness bringing out vineus dark fruits. Actually very nice, full of berries, smooth, flavours are coming nicely together. Boozy but in a good way. Hoppy as well actually. I like this one a lot, excellent sipper and I could sip quite a lot of this.

Draft at TBBT for their anniversary party. Pour is a murky brown with minimal head. Aroma is a bit of paper and cardboard. Light raisin/fruitiness. Taste is immediately showing the age. Light paper, seems thin too. Still has some nice bread and biscuit. Lightly carbonated. Overall, drink immediately.

Appearance: dark mahogany; slightly hazy; squat off-white head has decent retention.
Smell: Spicy hops and roasted malt dominates. High ABV evident but not objectionable.
Taste: Quite smooth and tame (in terms of bite) for a barleywine; some extra aging in effect here, I believe. A nice palette of hops, malt, caramel, and spice flavors also helps mask the alcohol. More hops than usual for style, but not so much as to overpower the nice complex interplay of other flavors. Rating approaches 9.
Mouthfeel: Medium body; light carbonation; slight warming from alcohol.
Overall: Probably my 1st black barleywine, so I canít judge it for style. Certainly quite enjoyable for a beer with this kind of ABV, and better than most barleywines of any variety in my limited experience. Excellent choice if you like a black IPA. (From notes)

I selected this as my Thanksgiving Day 2014 "special occasion" brew from the cellar. Yummy...tastes of dried fruit laced with notes of coffee, brown sugar, and all good things barley wine. The brew was four years old but still had quite a head in my glass.

"marketed as some form of hybrid imperial porter/barleywine...ends up not being either. aroma is a bit of sweet and roasted malt, and a sh--load of hops, piney and spicy. pours black, a little viscous, but not as thick in the feel as you expect. flavor is dominated again by the overzealous hopping, which while not altogether unpleasant, kills the complexity i was expecting from this beer and made it instead into a palate wrecking hop bomb. címon, guys, show a little restraint when hopping a beer. this is a good beer, but it coulda been a contender! the hops mellowed big time with just a little age. more drinkable, not necessarily better."

Bottles in 2010, stored under under refrigeration until Sept 2014. Black, with a huge brownish beige head. Lots of raisin and prune in the aroma, plus vanilla and oak. Taste is a lot of prune, some grape, some oak, and some black pepper. Hints of dark chocolate emerge as it warms. Seems to have held up pretty well, actually.

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